Spells: Bard dots last too long

[Kelgar]

The previous code was in line with classic/live eq, this one is not. Chants always got 4 tics in the past, and still do on live. The mechanics behind the tics are not so much the point as the fact that bards were built/balanced around the overall end effect. It wasn't broken before this, there was no need to fix it.

The chant's duration starts when the first server tic takes place after it is cast, thats at 0, then you get 3 more at 6/12/18, and this has always been the case.

Most bard songs have 18 second durations, NOT 12. You have to take into account clicking and unclicking songs during twisting, which makes a 4 song twist 12 seconds, plus click time, which puts you in the 14-15 second range, leaving no time to work a 5th song into the twist without a break in song coverage. Lazortag's reference sites can be used to show this.

http://web.archive.org/web/200012050...ns.asp?Id=1029
BARD SPELL DETAILS
Name: Hymn of Restoration
Level: 6
Mana: 0
Class: String, not required


Type: Group Duration Health Regeneration Increase
Max Duration: 18 seconds
Casting Time: Instant
Recast Time: Instant
Actual Effects: Duration: 3 ticks

Name: Crission's Pixie Strike
Level: 28
Mana: 0


Type: Single Target Crowd Control

Max Duration: 18 seconds
Casting Time: Instant
Recast Time: Instant

Actual Effects: Target: Mesmerise
Target: Lower MR


Name: Solon's Song of the Sirens
Level: 27
Mana: 0


Type: Single Target Random Duration Charm

Max Duration: 18 seconds


Name: Tuyen’s Chant of Frost
Level: 46
Mana: 0


Type: Cold Based Single Target Damage Over Time

Max Duration: 18 seconds

It should be noted that song durations are listed in tics, but they don't mean actual server tics, they mean increments of 6 seconds.
So a 4 tic song like Ancient Lullaby of Shadow:

http://crys.org/everquest/spells/bar...k=1&maxrank=65
60 Ancient: Lullaby Of Shadow
Magic based target Mez (24 sec stun, target levels 2-59), wipe Hate list

Listed as a 4 tic song on Lucy, is 24 seconds, which is actually spread out over the course of 5 server tics, 0/6/12/18/24, but is a 24 second (4tics at 6 seconds each.

Try logging onto a live account, or another emu server and click a song, watch the buff when it appears, it will have 18 seconds to start. Time a mez, or a charm. We are not dealing with 12 second duration songs, we are dealing with 18 second songs, or we were until the last patch.
When my mez/charm time goes from 18 seconds to 12, and my dots lose 25% of their damage, it becomes very apparent in a dungeon setting that my bard has been nerfed hard.